Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has been a thorn in the side of the European Union and the general interest of the
continent for several years. From dragging its feet at accepting Sweden into NATO, preserving relations with
Putin’s Russia after the 2022 invasion through gas and diplomatic meetings, to now holding everyone at edge in the vote to prolong EU sanctions on Russian individuals until the last minute, there is no doubt Hungary under Orbán has become more of a problematic risk than a promising partner. Europe has reached its limit with Hungary over the years and undoubtedly will again as long as Orbán sits in his position of power.
A PROMISING RISE AND HASTEFUL FALL
From joining the EU in 2004 to the Schengen zone in 2007, Hungary appeared to be on a path that would not indicate an irritant to the progress of European integration and cooperation. Orbán used to be among a healthy democratic process of various incumbents and newcomers that were voted in and out of office. This was broken by the Gyurcsany scandal which was an incident that revealed who lied to win the election and lied about their parliamentary successes. This combined with the 2008 financial crisis saw a political upheaval that resulted in a rise of Orbán to power and a utilization of a supermajority to reduce legislative and judicial constraints on the executive. Since then Hungary has experienced what can be described as democratic backsliding with a degradation of their domestic political health. V-Dem specifically categorized them from a liberal democracy to an electoral democracy to eventually in 2019 to an electoral autocracy. Eventually Orbán’s democratic deterioration finally caught up to him as a result of COVID.
AN UNAMUSED BRUSSELS
The European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Brussels’ right to cut funding to states that violate rule-of-law
standards in specific reference to budget support in 2022. At this crucial time of need for many European states due to COVID, Poland but also Hungary were subject to this withholding of funds due to their “flouting of democratic standards”. This has enabled the EU to address the democratic internal issues of its members without the use of the executive force it lacks due to the nature of the Union. While parts of these measures have taken years to take effect it displays a possibly unprecedented shift in EU tolerance for problematic sovereign members. In more recent scenarios, the EU has used potential funds to encourage Hungary to go along specifically with decisions regarding Ukraine. A situation Orbán has firmly stood in the pro-Russian or atleast opportunist camp in. From reassurance offers to simply telling him to go for a coffee break so the rest of the leaders can vote on ordinance there have been various methods utilized in navigating Hungary’s behavior on the European stage. Though as things become more and more dire with an unpredictable and growingly unreliable United States in terms of European security assurances, the behavior of Orbán’s Hungary has become more of a security issue than general nuisance.
A NUISANCE, NOT A PARTNER
A coalition of the willing to continue to aid Ukraine and oppose Russia has been growing in the European Union not only in reaction to the recent developments of American reliability but also Hungarian contrarianism. This has been spoken in terms of continued support for Ukrainian defense but also in most recent times a continuation of sanction on Russian individuals and high-status individuals. A close deadline was just met when Hungary finally agreed to continue such sanctions for another 6th months with a compromise being made on four individuals demanded by Budapest to be excluded. This situation has led to the growing sentiment of a need to find ways to simply ignore Hungary in European-wide decisions that don’t risk harming the internal credibility of the European Union. Such decisions include initiatives announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen like $160 billion in new loans and greater allowance of defense spending for member states. These actions are ones that do not require the backing of all member states.
HUNGARY’S EUROPEAN FUTURE 
Hungary’s place as the thorn in the European Union’s side is one that is becoming increasingly more untenable as the situation grows more dire for the continent. Orbán’s behavior has increasingly made Hungary a pariah and enabled the entities and states within the European Union to gradually find ways to not only ignore the state but punish it for its insolence. How long such a situation can go on for is yet to be seen as Orbán still faces the challenge of the electoral system that he hasn’t dismantled completely yet.